NEWS & UPDATES
SESCO Uncovers New Meter Tampering Method In Market
Warns members of the public from being duped by unscrupulous “service providers”
KUCHING, TUESDAY, 24TH MAY 2016: Sarawak Energy’s retail and operations arm, Syarikat SESCO Berhad, has uncovered the latest method used by power thieves to tamper with its electronic digital meters. The new method offered by “service providers” in the market is through replication of the meter body cover and seal as a disguise to hide the tampering done in the internal component of the meter from being detected.
A SESCO spokesperson said, “In order to access the internal components of the meter, the meter seals and meter body cover have to be opened, damaging them in the process, and leaving obvious trails of tampering. To cover up the evidence, they replaced the meter body cover and meter seals with replicas which look very similar to the original ones. However, SESCO meter inspection teams are trained and able to detect fake parts of the meter cover and seal and they are also equipped with advanced meter inspection tools to examine the condition of the meter during site inspection.”
During investigation of the cases, the enforcement team discovered that internal components of the meter had either been altered to disrupt the normal function of the meter, or installed with an illegal switch and relay to enable customers to control the meters remotely. In some cases, they installed resistors so that the meters register only minimal consumption of electricity.
The practice of this new meter tampering method has been detected in Kuching, Sibu and Miri and the offenders are found to be repeated offenders in power theft cases.
SESCO is keeping a close watch on repeat offenders with regular checks on their electricity meters. Legal actions will be taken against these offenders and arrears will be billed to them to recover the stolen amount of electricity consumption in accordance with the provisions under the Electricity Ordinance.
SESCO spokesperson added, “Police reports had been lodged for all these tampering cases and the offenders will be called to assist in the investigation. SESCO is working closely with the State Regulator, Electrical Inspectorate Unit (EIU) of the Ministry of Public Utilities and the Police to prosecute power theft offenders in court. Power thieves will be charged under Section 33(5) of the Electricity Ordinance with a fine of up to RM100, 000 or imprisonment of five years or both.”
SESCO would like to advise members of the public against trusting service providers offering to alter or adjust their electricity meters. In most cases, when caught for tampering, the customers themselves will face the hefty fines and prosecution in court while the service providers are nowhere to be traced.
SESCO appeals to the public for their cooperation to report any power theft related information through SESCO hotline 082-443535 or write to SESCO Customer Care Centre at customercare@sarawakenergy.com.my. All information will be kept strictly confidential.
